Post by Teddy Bear on Jul 12, 2011 20:58:14 GMT
You can knock 2 or 3 zeroes at least of the amounts being paid to these people and it would still be too much.
Can you believe any of those named are worth anything near that much?
Here's what the BBC show as their outgoings for this
Can you believe any of those named are worth anything near that much?
Here's what the BBC show as their outgoings for this
BBC paid £22m to 19 stars who are all being paid more than £500,000-a-year... and the number of six-figure earners has grown too
The BBC paid £22million to 19 stars who are all on more than £500,000 per year, according to accounts released today.
The astonishing number is believed to include Graham Norton and Gary Lineker, on an estimated £2million a year each, and Alan Hansen, who earns a reported £1.4million.
The BBC refuse to reveal who their top earners are for legal and commercial reasons.
Despite pledging to slash the amount spent on celebrity presenters, the bill fell by just £3.8million last year. In 2009-10 they paid out £26million to 21 people.
BBC executives refused to be drawn on individual cases but it is believed the loss of Adrian Chiles and Christine Bleakley to ITV accounted for around £2million in savings from the talent bill.
The figures were released a week after BBC Trust chairman Lord Patten said licence fee payers did not 'expect the BBC to pay sky-high commercial rewards to people that work for a public service'.
As private sector workers have experienced pay freezes and job losses, at the Corporation there was an increase in the number of people earning between £250,000 and £499,999.
A year ago there were 26 people in that pay bracket - and now there are 33. The number of people on between £100,000 and £149,999 also increased from 129 to 142.
Top earners at the Corporation are believed to include Anne Robinson on an estimated £1million a year, Jeremy Paxman on £800,000 and Today show presenter John Humphrys who earns a reputed £625,000.
BBC Trust chairman Lord Patten has pledged to crackdown on pay but figures released today reveal he has a lot more work to do.
However, the total bill for talent came in at £212million, down from £221million in 2009-10.
The report ranks talent by paybands but groups everyone earning from £500,000 up to £5million together.
Lord Patten said the corporation was not 'hiding' anything and there was 'no fundamental human right' for the public to know about a celebrity's pay packet.
The BBC refuses to name which stars are paid more than £500,000, but this list suggests those that probably are on big money
He said there was a difference between 'public accountability and prurience' and argued that further disclosure might drive people to work for independents, which do not have to publish pay, rather than work directly for the BBC.
He said: 'If we were to insist on infringing the data protection legislation, I imagine more people would choose to be employed by independent producers, which would hardly produce the effect people want.'
Sir Michael Lyons, former BBC chairman, had promised to make public the number of staff in certain pay bands, but the corporation's annual report does not contain the information.
Earlier this year it was revealed that Andrew Marr earned about £600,000 a year after his pay-slip was left in the wrong pigeon-hole.
Top Gear stars Jeremy Clarkson, James May and Richard Hammond are not in the top 20.
Clarkson makes most of his money through his deal with BBC Worldwide, which lets him take a slice of the profits from the sale of the show abroad.
Culture Secretary Jeremy Hunt is 'very disappointed' by the U-turn, according to the Daily Telegraph.
Reports last week revealed that around 20 actors, presenters and journalists are paid more than £500,000 by the BBC, but Sir Michael's promise to MPs that the corporation would publish more precise pay bands will not be upheld following legal advice.
A source close to Mr Hunt said: 'Jeremy is very disappointed that they are stepping back from pledges of transparency. It is in their interests to be open.'
BBC lawyers are believed to have advised executives that the reporting of pay bands would risk identifying individuals' salaries, which would breach confidentiality agreements in their contracts.
A source close to the corporation's director-general, Mark Thomposon, said it risked jigsaw identification of the stars and thus breaches of confidentiality clauses.
MPs have reacted angrily to the news. John Whittingdale, chairman of the Culture, Media and Sport Select Committee, said he found the BBC's arguments 'pretty unconvincing'.
'My position is the licence-fee payer is entitled to know these things,' said Mr Whittingdale.
He plans to question Mr Thompson and Chris Patten, the BBC's chairman, on the issue when they address the select committee next week.
The BBC has been under fire over how much it pays its 'talent' after it was revealed that stars' salaries had dropped by only £9million, to £212million, over the last year - despite assurances that pay would be kept under control.
A BBC spokesman said that the corporation was publishing salaries in greater detail than ever before, but refused to be drawn further.
The BBC paid £22million to 19 stars who are all on more than £500,000 per year, according to accounts released today.
The astonishing number is believed to include Graham Norton and Gary Lineker, on an estimated £2million a year each, and Alan Hansen, who earns a reported £1.4million.
The BBC refuse to reveal who their top earners are for legal and commercial reasons.
Despite pledging to slash the amount spent on celebrity presenters, the bill fell by just £3.8million last year. In 2009-10 they paid out £26million to 21 people.
BBC executives refused to be drawn on individual cases but it is believed the loss of Adrian Chiles and Christine Bleakley to ITV accounted for around £2million in savings from the talent bill.
The figures were released a week after BBC Trust chairman Lord Patten said licence fee payers did not 'expect the BBC to pay sky-high commercial rewards to people that work for a public service'.
As private sector workers have experienced pay freezes and job losses, at the Corporation there was an increase in the number of people earning between £250,000 and £499,999.
A year ago there were 26 people in that pay bracket - and now there are 33. The number of people on between £100,000 and £149,999 also increased from 129 to 142.
Top earners at the Corporation are believed to include Anne Robinson on an estimated £1million a year, Jeremy Paxman on £800,000 and Today show presenter John Humphrys who earns a reputed £625,000.
BBC Trust chairman Lord Patten has pledged to crackdown on pay but figures released today reveal he has a lot more work to do.
However, the total bill for talent came in at £212million, down from £221million in 2009-10.
The report ranks talent by paybands but groups everyone earning from £500,000 up to £5million together.
Lord Patten said the corporation was not 'hiding' anything and there was 'no fundamental human right' for the public to know about a celebrity's pay packet.
The BBC refuses to name which stars are paid more than £500,000, but this list suggests those that probably are on big money
He said there was a difference between 'public accountability and prurience' and argued that further disclosure might drive people to work for independents, which do not have to publish pay, rather than work directly for the BBC.
He said: 'If we were to insist on infringing the data protection legislation, I imagine more people would choose to be employed by independent producers, which would hardly produce the effect people want.'
Sir Michael Lyons, former BBC chairman, had promised to make public the number of staff in certain pay bands, but the corporation's annual report does not contain the information.
Earlier this year it was revealed that Andrew Marr earned about £600,000 a year after his pay-slip was left in the wrong pigeon-hole.
Top Gear stars Jeremy Clarkson, James May and Richard Hammond are not in the top 20.
Clarkson makes most of his money through his deal with BBC Worldwide, which lets him take a slice of the profits from the sale of the show abroad.
Culture Secretary Jeremy Hunt is 'very disappointed' by the U-turn, according to the Daily Telegraph.
Reports last week revealed that around 20 actors, presenters and journalists are paid more than £500,000 by the BBC, but Sir Michael's promise to MPs that the corporation would publish more precise pay bands will not be upheld following legal advice.
A source close to Mr Hunt said: 'Jeremy is very disappointed that they are stepping back from pledges of transparency. It is in their interests to be open.'
BBC lawyers are believed to have advised executives that the reporting of pay bands would risk identifying individuals' salaries, which would breach confidentiality agreements in their contracts.
A source close to the corporation's director-general, Mark Thomposon, said it risked jigsaw identification of the stars and thus breaches of confidentiality clauses.
MPs have reacted angrily to the news. John Whittingdale, chairman of the Culture, Media and Sport Select Committee, said he found the BBC's arguments 'pretty unconvincing'.
'My position is the licence-fee payer is entitled to know these things,' said Mr Whittingdale.
He plans to question Mr Thompson and Chris Patten, the BBC's chairman, on the issue when they address the select committee next week.
The BBC has been under fire over how much it pays its 'talent' after it was revealed that stars' salaries had dropped by only £9million, to £212million, over the last year - despite assurances that pay would be kept under control.
A BBC spokesman said that the corporation was publishing salaries in greater detail than ever before, but refused to be drawn further.